1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of translating a message from a first markup language into a second markup language.
It also relates to a reverse process of translating from the second markup language into the first markup language, as well as to a method of generating a message in a second markup language.
In a complementary manner, it relates to a translation device and a reverse translation device adapted respectively to implement the methods of translation and reverse translation in accordance with the invention.
The present invention generally applies to electronic documents intended to be generated then transferred by computers and other devices communicating in a communication network.
2. Description of Related Art
Documents are known in particular which are represented in a markup language of the XML (“eXtensible Markup Language”) type. XML is a markup language, that is to say a language which presents information framed by tags.
Each block of information in XML language is defined between an opening tag and a closing tag, the information blocks being thus juxtaposed after each other in the document or nested inside each other.
Based on this markup language, an improved markup language exists called OML (“Object Markup Language”), which makes it possible to associate with each information block particular processing by one or more stations of the communication network.
In such a language, the information blocks are associated with an address attribute making it possible in the body of the message to indicate for each information block the station or stations of the network adapted to process the data contained in that block.
Each information block is destined, on the transfer of the message over a communication network, to be processed by one or more stations of that network.
Thus, an information block may be solely processed by the recipient station of the message, or else solely by one or more intermediate stations transferring the message between a transmitter station and the recipient station, or else both by intermediate stations and by the recipient station.
For this purpose, the information blocks are associated with an address attribute for these blocks, this attribute comprising either a reference to a recipient station, or a reference to an intermediate station of the communication network or else to a next station in the transmission of the message over the communication network.
A station of the communication network may be referenced either directly by its electronic address (URL) or else by virtue of the description of a functionality implemented on the station, such as the capacity of the station to encrypt data, to store data in a cache memory, etc.
The address attribute may also comprise a reference to any of the stations of the communication network adapted to receive and re-transmit the message, or else to none of the stations of the communication network in particular.
Such is the case in particular of a block which is referenced by one or more other blocks of the message and which is not destined for any station in particular of the communication network.
In parallel with this first markup language, there is an improved markup language defined by means of a W3C standard. The latter defines in particular the structure of a document represented in XML language.
Thus, in the SOAP standard, defined by the W3C standard, a message in XML language is considered as a document comprising information blocks distributed between a first group of blocks, corresponding to the header of the document, and a second group of blocks, corresponding to the body of the document. The first group of blocks is adapted to comprise blocks addressed to one or more intermediate stations of the communication network, whereas the second group is adapted to comprise blocks addressed to the recipient station of the message in the communication network.
The SOAP standard can be constructed from the following document: “SOAP Version 1.2, W3C Working Draft 9 Jul. 2001”.
This division into groups of information blocks makes it possible, on transfer of the message over the communication network, to facilitate its processing by the different stations of the network, by placing in particular, in the header of the document, the information blocks destined to be processed by the intermediate stations, and, by contrast, placing in the body of the message the information blocks destined for the recipient station of the message.